Amelia’s first birthday session was so much fun! And extra special for me: Amelia was one of the first newborns we photographed in the new studio. (Her newborn portraits are currently hanging in my studio so I see her every day!) I was so excited that I also got to be her St. Cloud, MN cake smash photographer and celebrate her birthday with her! I couldn’t wait to see how big and cute she’d gotten since our newborn session. She didn’t disappoint!

I put this set together for Amelia after her mom sent me the outfits she wanted to use. She wasn’t picky about the sets (although we did collaborate for the cake smash part). How involved you want to be with planning session decor is totally up to you! If you have a specific idea, I’m happy to run with that and customize our sets to fit your vision. And if you’re not sure, that’s fine too! I have tons of ideas. :) And sometimes it can be serendipitous, like with Amelia’s first birthday session. When mom and dad entered the studio and saw my boho setup with plants, they were so pumped! Apparently they both have quite the green thumbs and love gardening and plants! The set is similar to their home decor, which means these images will look lovely and totally natural in their home.

This was the first time I had seen Amelia since she started standing. It was fun to see her show off her skills at the ladder! Look at this smile…she is so proud!

Amelia is a rainbow baby so we used a rainbow theme to design her cake smash set! Mom brought the cake topper and tutu while I took care of the set and cake. I knew everything would coordinate, but I was happily surprised at how well everything matched! The balloons were the perfect hues. Looks like they were made as part of a matching set with everything else, doesn’t it?

I’ll tell ya one thing, Amelia takes her cake seriously. She was so concentrated on putting away some cake that it was a challenge to get her to smile or even look up from her feast! Priorities, right?

Oh, and don’t you just love her red hair?

I think she might have had more fun in the tub than she did with the cake! Once the serious business was over all the smiles came out!

We shot some quick family photos at the beginning of the session. We love when parents hop in!

As a St. Cloud, MN cake smash photographer, I love celebrating baby’s first birthday with something extra fun! A combination one year portrait and cake smash session is perfect for capturing that milestone and making it a memorable experience for everyone. Get in touch and let’s start planning the perfect birthday celebration for your little munchkin!